


When are you coming home?

by stars_inthe_sky



Series: thought i was alone [3]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Gen, Post-Avengers (2012), Post-Avengers Shawarma Scene, Secret Marriage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-22
Updated: 2018-03-22
Packaged: 2019-04-06 08:24:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14052882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stars_inthe_sky/pseuds/stars_inthe_sky
Summary: The Avengers' shawarma feast is interrupted by a phone call.





	When are you coming home?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Menatiera](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Menatiera/gifts).



> [menatiera](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Menatiera) prompted, "wedding! :D (if you feel so :))"
> 
> This isn't exactly that, but I _do_ feel, so.

Even Thor looks like he’s about to pass out into a bowl of hummus, but the unmistakable sound of a ringing cell phone gives all six of them a start.

It’s Natasha’s, and Clint shifts his foot off her chair so she can dig the thing out of her belt pouch. Straightening in her seat, she answers in a short burst of Russian, and relief spreads over her face like a sunrise. She rises unsteadily to her feet and makes her way to the door of the shawarma shop. As soon as she’s on the sidewalk, she resumes speaking while her newfound teammates watch through the window.

“Well, now we can’t hear whatever she’s telling Fury; that’s no fun,” Tony mutters.

Clint snorts around a mouthful of lamb. “Dude, it’s probably her husband. Fury would just use the comms channel we’re _all_ on.”

“Wait, _husband_?” Tony demands. Bruce raises an eyebrow, and Steve manages to look awake enough to seem interested. Thor takes another bite of falafel. All four of them glance at Natasha, who is still on the phone with her back to them, and then turn to Clint for an explanation.

He shrugs. “Spouse. Partner. Man-friend. The mister. Guy who liked it, so he put a ring on it.”

Steve closes his eyes again at the last comment, leaning back into his hand like he’s actually trying to fall asleep this time.

“I think we’re all familiar with the concept,” Bruce says. “Just didn’t know she _had_ one.”

“I have,” Tony pauses to chug some water. “Questions. So many questions.”

Clint sighs. “Not that it’s any of your business—”

“Okay, but when she was all up in _my_ business—”

“He’s a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent,” Clint interrupts. “He knows her deal. And if he hadn’t been on some deep-cover thing for the last month and a half, he’d probably have been out there with the rest of us just now.”

“He’s another…‘remarkable’ person?” Bruce asks.

Clint pinches the bridge of his nose, clearly wishing he hadn’t said anything. Thor reaches for more tahini. “Yeah. They met in Russia during the bad old days, doing…the stuff they don’t talk about now. When she defected, her only condition was that S.H.I.E.L.D. go after him when the time came, and Fury was totally happy to turn another Soviet asset to Team Good Guys. They got hitched basically as soon as S.H.I.E.L.D. let him out of the basement.”

Steve stirs at that. “Soviet? I thought they said the U.S.S.R. broke up.”

“It did, but—futz, it’s a long story. You of all people should probably hear it from him.”

“Okay?” Steve doesn’t seem convinced.

Natasha returns, collapsing back into her chair. “Good to know your mouth’s still working, Hawkeye.”

“How do you know—” Clint replaces his foot on her seat as she smirks.

“Because the two of them”—she gestures to Tony and Bruce—“are trying not to be obvious about looking for _this_.” She pulls back the finger of one of her mitts to reveal a thin gold wedding band. “And we knew two weeks ago that we were going to have to tell Rogers eventually.”

“Tell me…what?” Despite his earlier insistences about having slept for most of a century, Steve is genuinely struggling to stay conscious.

“Who she married,” Clint says with a sly grin directed more at Tony and Bruce than Steve. Thor continues eating.

Natasha rolls her eyes and resumes her pita plate. “James Barnes. He went by Bucky in a past life.”

Half of the Avengers stare at her. She keeps chewing.

“That can’t possibly—” Tony begins.

“But didn’t he…” Bruce trails off.

“ _How?_ ” Steve asks, suddenly wide awake.

Clint shrugs again. “I told you, you should hear it from him.” Natasha nods her agreement.

“Okay, so, to recap,” Tony cuts in. “Departing from our base on an _invisible flying aircraft carrier_ , we literally just stopped an invading alien army from _taking over the world_ because a _Norse god_ threw a hissy fit…and somehow the most surprising thing is that Romanoff here is _married_ to the famously _dead_ Howling Commando?”

“Speak for yourself, Stark,” Thor says. “I’m still amazed Loki has only stabbed me the once today.”

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from "[Laid](https://www.vevo.com/watch/james/laid-\(version-3\)/GBUV70600410)" by James.


End file.
